Welcome back warriors, we have a great video to review today. I can’t stress the importance of getting shoot or don’t shoot scenarios correct. And as of late, there have been some very questionable use of deadly force. I’m not going to say it is more important now than ever to get it right. Because it was important to get it right in the past, and it’s just as important to get right in the present as well as in the future. Police departments are being defunded because of poor officer judgment. So it is up to you to make sure if you have to use deadly force, that it is justified. Now that being said, in this video your about to see an officer use deadly force, and it is definitely justified.
I want to start off by saying this definitely escalated quickly. As soon as the officer makes contact with the suspect, the suspect begins to aggressively move towards the officer. That alone would be enough to make a normal person uneasy. But the suspect is moving towards the officer with two sai’s in his hands like he is Rafael. Upon seeing this, the officer immediately is giving the suspect multiple verbal orders to stay back. We can see that the suspect is completely ignoring those orders, so fearing for his safety the officer reacts quickly to deploy his taser. Not to mention that before deploying said taser he warns the suspect again that he is about to be tased. Unfortunately, the suspect continues to advance, and the officer has to deploy his taser. But it was ineffective, leaving the officer with only one option and that was to use deadly force. But still, even before pulling the trigger and shooting the suspect, the officer gave one last warning to the suspect to try to get him to stop advancing on him. With the suspect giving him no other option, the officer begins firing at the suspect while trying to retreat. Ok, at this point we should all be in agreement that this was a justified use of deadly force. The problem I see at this point is that at a very close range a few of his shots were off target. I’m not saying that is not to be expected. I get that his heart rate was super elevated, and he was back peddling very fast while somebody was trying to kill him with some ninja weapons. That is a super stressful situation. That said there are ways to train so you can accurately shoot with an elevated heart rate. The only reason I am even mentioning this is if some of those stray shots were to hit any innocent bystanders things would become more complicated for the officer.
So the suspect is down and back up has arrived on the scene. You can tell the officer is visibly shaken by the incident that just unfolded. Once again the officer is a human being it is understandable to be shaken after such a traumatic event. But remember even after all that your job as an officer is not over yet. You still could be required to provide first aid or be able to back up your fellow officers. Once again, the best way to be prepared for that is training. But all and all I have to say the officer was justified in his actions and he will be able to go home after his shift, so that qualifies as a win and a job well done.
So that wraps up today’s blog. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or comments. And as always, stay safe out there.
